Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ink had finally gotten called by the Creators again. Altogether Cross wasn't that surprised. It had been a really long time since the last time after all. As stressful as it could be whenever this happened, Cross couldn't help but feel glad he'd made the decision to stay in the Doodle Sphere. He couldn't imagine what having to deal with this alone must have felt like for Ink.

He was ready as soon as the barrier came down again, carrying Ink to the shrine to get his paints before taking him back to the house. He knew it wouldn't be long before a still exhausted Ink would have to head out to fight Error again, but he always at least had a few hours to rest.

Ink always seemed tense, whenever the Creators hadn't called him for a while. He always tried not to show it, but he got increasingly antsy the longer it had been since the last creation spree. It didn't seem to matter how much anyone tried to distract him or help him relax. It might work for a while, but eventually his mood would visibly go down and it became very obvious that he was starting to worry the Creators had abandoned him.

But now that he had been called again, that all seemed to dissipate and although he was tired, he also looked relieved. Cross never knew how to feel when he noticed. He never said anything to Ink about it either.

"Aw, you don't need to look so gloomy, Cross." Ink reassured him. "Did I leave you here alone for that long? How long was I out this time?"

Cross hadn't realized his thoughts had shown on his face that much. "A month." He said. "So it wasn't too much longer than usual."

"Only a month?" Ink blinked up at him.

Cross sighed. "Yeah. But you shouldn't talk like it's your fault. You said so yourself that you can't say no to the Creators."

"Then, why are you upset?"

Cross took a deep breath. "I… just don't like seeing you like this. They always work you so hard."

"I'll be okay." Ink leaned against Cross's chest. "I just need to rest for a while."

"It's not going to be too long before Error goes on another rampage." Cross pointed out. Error always started destroying AUs after Ink's creation sprees. Ink only ever got a few hours to rest before he had to get up to go stop him.

"I always get plenty of time to rest after that though."

"That's true…" Cross laid Ink down on his bed. He just wished Ink didn't have to live like this.

"Then you should get rest while you can." Cross told him. "I'll make something for you to eat when you wake up."

"Okay. Thanks Cross."

Like always, Ink had to leave to go fight Error again not long after he woke up. Though at least he did get a chance to eat first. He still looked tired when he left, but he always came out of his fights with Error fine in spite of that. Especially since he and Error started spending time together outside of fights. So Cross tried not to worry.

Cross found himself wondering why Error always had to destroy the AUs after Ink got done making them. The destroyer almost never seemed to destroy AUs any other time. It didn't really make a whole lot of sense. Certainly not if you actually thought Error hated AUs. A lot about Error didn't seem to add up.

It almost seemed as if he was trying to stop too many AUs from being created. But why would he want to do that?

Ink returned from the fight with Error a few hours later, a little banged up and still exhausted but otherwise no worse for wear than any other time. Cross quickly whisked the guardian to bed again over his protests. At least things should quiet down again for a while.

Once Ink had a chance to rest and heal up, things quickly settled back into their usual routine. The one good thing was that at least Ink's mood had improved, now that it had been confirmed once again that he hadn't been abandoned and the Creators still needed him.

"I don't really like how much of Ink's self esteem is wrapped up in the Creators needing him." Cross confided in Dream a while later.

"Neither do I." Dream said. "But I'm afraid there isn't much we can do about that. Ink was created to serve them, so it only makes sense he would feel that way."

"I wish there was something we could do." Cross sighed.

"So do I." Dream shook his head. "But I haven't the faintest idea what. To be honest I've been thinking about it since the X Event ended."

"Because of what XGaster tried to do?" Cross asked.

Dream nodded. "His true motivations were questionable, and it's also still unclear to me if he even noticed what we have or if he was simply delusional and just happened to stumble onto a similar conclusion, but there's one thing I can agree with him on; It would be in Ink's best interest if we could find a way to break or weaken his connection to the Creators so they can't control him like that. But I can't even begin to fathom how we could do that."

"Have you tried asking Chronicle about it?" Chronicle seemed to know quite a bit about Ink even Ink himself didn't know. Not to mention that library of his.

"Ah, I hadn't thought of that." Dream laughed. "I suppose he's a good place to start. Though I've also thought about asking Sci."

"Might be a good idea to ask both." Cross said. "Maybe if they work together they could figure something out."

"That's an idea." Dream looked thoughtful at that suggestion. "Thank you Cross. I'll do that."

Cross did feel a little better after talking to Dream. He still didn't really know what they could do for Ink or if there even was anything they could do, but at least they had the ball rolling on something. Cross knew that he and Dream weren't the only ones who were worried about Ink. Their other friends would be glad to help out if they could.

When Cross returned home, he was greeted with the sight of Ink curled up on the couch in Cross's extra jacket. He paused in the entryway and blinked.

"Ink? What are you doing?"

Ink sat up, brightening as he saw Cross. "Cross, you're home!"

He stood up from the couch still wearing the jacket as Cross walked over to him.

"Why are you wearing my jacket?" Cross stared at the artist, his face starting to glow purple. Cross's jacket was far too big for Ink, which further emphasized how small he was in comparison. It was honestly really cute.

Ink paused, looking down at himself. He looked as if he'd only just remembered he was wearing it. "Oh, this? Uh, I dunno. I guess I just felt like it."

"So, uh, what did you do today while you were out?" Ink scratched his cheek, blushing and grinning sheepishly at him.

"Oh, I went to visit Dream." Cross replied, going to sit down on the couch.

Ink sat down next to him. "You did? What did you guys do?"

"We mostly just talked about a few things." Cross wondered if he should tell Ink what they talked about. Probably not. "It isn't really that important."

"So, do you want to play video games together?"

"Okay, sure."

So the two went over to the tv to set up Ink's switch. This time they decided to play Mario Kart together. Ink snuggled down into Cross's jacket some more as they selected their characters. Ink seemed pretty happy wearing Cross's jacket. He couldn't help wondering again why he was wearing it.

After deciding on a course and starting a race, Cross decided to focus his attention on the game. Ink still wasn't very good at playing video games, despite how often he played them, either with Cross or Blue, but that never seemed to stop him. Mario Kart at least was a bit more straightforward. Still, there were also the NPC racers to contend with in addition to Cross.

Unsurprisingly, Ink got sulky when a blue shell sent his character and sent him straight to last place. "Aww! No fair, that came out of nowhere."

"That's just what blue shells do." Cross chuckled.

Ink stuck his tongue out at him. "The stupid game is cheating."

"Do you want to play something else?" Cross asked.

"No! I'm not done yet."

Cross tried not to laugh at that reply. Ink was adorable when he got stubborn like that.

The two kept playing for the rest of the afternoon. Ink just kept trying until he finally managed to get first place.

"Alright!" Ink cheered, bouncing in his seat. "See? I knew I could do it."

"Good job." Cross laughed. "Do you want to play a different course now? I think we have a bit more time before I should get started on dinner."

Grinning, Ink nodded. "Okay! I'll choose the course this time."

When it was finally time to stop playing so Cross could start dinner, he glanced over at Ink again as he got up from the couch. Ink was still wearing his extra jacket and it didn't look like he was planning on taking it off any time soon. It was kind of funny because it was a little too big for him.

Cross just shook his head and went into the kitchen. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful, at least until it was time for them to turn in for the night. Ink had finally taken off Cross's spare jacket at this point. Things seemed normal, Cross said good night to Ink and headed to his room. But then he heard a knock at the door a few minutes later.

He got up from the bed and opened the door. "Ink? Is something wrong?"

"Uh…" Ink shifted, looking a little embarrassed as he hugged a pillow to his chest. "Is it okay if I sleep in your room tonight?"

The ex-guard blinked at him, then started to blush. "I…" Dammit, he 100% blamed Epic for where his mind went upon seeing Ink standing there like that asking that question. He immediately shoved that thought away. This really wasn't the time for that. "Ink? Why do you want to do that? Is something wrong?"

This combined with what Ink had done earlier had Cross concerned. There was definitely something going on here.

Ink was blushing too now. He looked down at his feet. "I dunno…"

He began to turn to go back to his room. "Sorry. I shouldn't've asked."

"Wait." Cross held up a hand. "It's okay. You can stay."

When he thought about it. This wasn't the first time Ink had acted oddly around him since XGaster was defeated. That thought gave him some ideas about what this might be about. But it was okay if Ink didn't want to talk about it.

Ink brightened turning back to him. "Thanks, Cross."

They went back to Cross's bed. Fortunately there was enough room to fit both of them comfortably. That said it was a little bit awkward for Cross to be sleeping right next to someone he had less than platonic feelings for, though Ink fell asleep almost immediately after settling in. But Cross wouldn't let it bother him.

This was far from the first time Cross had watched Ink sleep. He had just never done it from this position before. Ink always looked so peaceful when he slept, and if anything he looked even more relaxed right now. Smiling a bit, Cross settled down to sleep too.

He'd made the right choice to stay in the Doodle Sphere. He would do the best he could to be there for Ink as long as he still needed him.

The next day, Cross decided to visit Epic. Epic had wanted to watch a new anime he'd recently discovered, so Cross went over to his place to watch it with him.

"So, how'er things with you and Ink-bruh recently?" Epic asked him. "You settling in alright now that you've decided to stick around?"

"I'm doing alright." Cross told him. "So is Ink. Things have been pretty peaceful."

"Annnd when are you planning on asking him out?" Epic raised his eyeridges suggestively.

Cross immediately turned purple. "Epic! I already told you. I can't do that."

"Awww, c'mon bruh." Epic laughed. "You know you wanna. You didn't just decide to stay in the Doodle Sphere instead of returning to your AU for no reason. You can't fool your old pal Epic."

"It's not that." Cross replied defensively. "Ink already likes someone else."

Epic seemed amused by that response. "You sure about that, bruh?"

Cross looked confused at that. "What do you mean?"

Epic stretched casually. "Mm, well, I'm just saying. You don't have to make Inky choose between you and Dreamy, if you know what I mean."

Cross stared at Epic for a second, blinking, then he sputtered. "Epic! You're not seriously suggesting what I think you are, are you?"

Epic shrugged. "Why not? You and Dream get along just fine."

Cross frowned at him. "But that's not something we can decide without asking Ink."

"Are you really sure he doesn't like you the way you like him, bruh?" Epic asked.

Cross paused. "Honestly? I… don't know."

"Maybe you oughta look into that instead of just assuming?"

Cross went silent for a moment. "... But I wouldn't want to make things awkward."

Epic snorted. "Things'll get awkward anyway if you keep that up. C'mon, Crossy. Don't be a wuss."

Cross glared at him. Then he sighed. "Alright. I'll think about it."

This time when Cross got home, Ink was waiting for him. "Hey, C. Welcome home!"

Cross smiled when saw him. "Hey, Ink."

"Did you have fun with Epic?"

Cross nodded. “We watched the first three episodes of that anime Epic wanted me to check out, and I really liked it. I'll make sure to watch the rest when new episodes come out.”

Ink laughed. “You guys really like stuff like that, huh?”

“It's fun watching anime with Epic.” Cross replied. He turned to look at Ink. “So, how was your day? Did anything interesting happen while you were on patrol?”

They spent the rest of the afternoon together as usual, and Cross didn't think too much about what he and Epic had talked about earlier, at least until it was time to go to bed again.

Once again, he found Ink at his door asking if he could sleep in his room with him. Once again, Cross couldn't help staring at Ink for a moment before answering.

“Ink? Is something wrong? This is the second night in a row.” Cross frowned in concern.

Ink shifted and looked away, blushing. “Ah, I guess that's true. I don't really know why, but I just couldn't sleep tonight either… but if I'm bothering you, I can still go back to my room.”

“No, it's okay.” Cross said quickly. “I don't mind at all.”

“Are you sure?”

Cross nodded. “It's just that you've never done anything like this before, but I'm serious when I say I don't mind. Just come in.”

He headed back to bed and Ink followed him. This time things felt less awkward, but now he couldn't help wondering.

Did Epic have a point after all or was he over thinking things? Ink was always very physically affectionate, but he'd never done anything like this before. He didn't want to get hopes up too much, but the thought wouldn't stop nagging at him.

Well, perhaps this wasn't a good time to think about that. Ink had already nodded off and he should also get to sleep. He'd think about it in the morning.